When Dave (Alexander England) splits up with his girlfriend he ends up crashing at his sister Tess’ (Kat Stewart) house. In an effort to keep a roof over his head he offers to take his nephew Felix (Diesel La Torraca) to school and instantly develops an attraction to his teacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o). In an effort to impress her he offers to assist her on a school trip but did not imagine they would have to fight off flesh eating zombies with children’s entertainer Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad). 

Opening with a montage of arguments between Dave and his soon to be ex-girlfriend we quickly learn that he is a man with a slightly arrested development. Scared that he will become his father and still under the delusion that his band will hit the big time he is making a series of bad choices that test even his sisters resolve to let him stay in the house. What starts as another childish attempt to impress a woman turns into a formative experience whilst fighting off zombies and singing Taylor Swift and Neil Diamond songs. 

Little Monsters is an absolutely hilarious horror comedy that features some musical numbers and brilliant performances from its leads. Lupita Nyong’o’s Miss Caroline is the perfect teacher. When presented with danger that threatens her wards she turns the situation into a game to keep them calm where as Josh Gad’s children’s entertainer loses his cool and starts using the sort of language that anyone would wince at. Wrapped together with a lead who learns to grow as a human being and we all have someone to root for. 

This is probably one of the funniest films I have seen in a long time. I was bent over double in places I was laughing so hard. Josh Gad probably gets the most laughs with the celebrity children’s entertainer who hates kids but loves their mums. But there are jokes from every angle. Sight gags and snarky asides with my favourite being the jaded army soldiers who ask if it is fast or slow zombies this time. 

Writer/director Abe Forsyth has delivered an absolute gem.